A global bond issue of $1.5 billion, and stake sale to reduce promoter holding to 75 per cent in Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports are just some of the options that the Adani Group is considering to fund its coal mining plans in Australia.

Adani Enterprises has a debt-equity ratio of 2.9:1. The promoter shareholding is over 75 per cent in both the holding company and ports operations, which are listed on stock exchanges.

Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, said this while speaking to reporters here today.

On Sunday, the company announced completion of exploration in its coal mine assets in Australia. It expects to get the requisite environment and other regulatory approvals by mid-2013.

Martin Ferguson, Australian Minister for Resources and Energy, who is visiting Adani Port at Mundra, said that the regulatory clearances are expected by mid-2013 for the Carmichael Mines project.

The first tranche of mining is expected to start from January 2016. In 2016, the company expects to mine 23 million tonne of coal and step up its mining to 60 mt per annum by 2022.

The exploration has established the single largest coal tenement globally with reserves of up to 10 billion tonnes in Carmichael Mines in the Galilee Basin of Queensland, where a comprehensive geotechnical field investigation has also been completed.

The company is tight-lipped on the immediate investment numbers and process for the mining project. “We are doing the business feasibility study for the project. We hope to achieve financial closure for the project by mid-2013,” said Harsh Mishra, CEO, Adani Group’s Australia operations.

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